YEAR 7 UNIT 1 – BRIDGING UNIT / ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

TIME SCALE: 13 – 15 Lessons (September – December)

Classwork to be covered:

• Introduction to singing, focusing on vocal technique, breathing and diction, through singing unison/simple part songs/rounds such as those found in “Singing for Pleasure” and “Voiceworks” books.
• Learning and application of key musical vocabulary: Pitch, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Rhythm, Timbre, Melody …
• Listening work relating to this unit
• Musical notations: Graphic Scores, Treble Clef Notes C – G
• Instruments of the Orchestra
• Basic keyboard skills – a booklet of progressive, differentiated pieces, allowing most able to access individual composition work. No notefinders/marked keyboard notes
  

Homework

• Instruments of the orchestra project

Work to be assessed:

• Individual keyboard performance skills
• Standardised test, focusing on knowledge of key vocabulary, treble clef notation and instruments of the orchestra.
• Homework – grade A - E

Classwork to be covered:

• Rhythmic notation (crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, minim, semibreve)
• Ensemble performance skills
• Listening based activities relevant to this unit, including world music
• Listening to Baroque orchestral music
• Introduction to improvisation
• Keyboard performance
• The Pentatonic March (pentatonic scale, ostinato).
• Pentatonic melody composition for the more able

Homework

• Research on a Baroque composer
• Extra performance practice

Work to be assessed:

• Individual keyboard performance/composition skills
• Standardised test focusing on rhythmic notation (dictation) and musical terms (elements of music plus terms such as “ostinato”, “pentatonic”)
• Written evaluation – comment based feedback/targets